Early history The Manor of Lee was a historic parish of the
Blackheath hundred and existed up to 1900 when it was merged with the parish of
Lewisham to create the
Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham. While modern Lee is centred on
Lee railway station and the road of
Burnt Ash Hill, the parish was based around Lee High Road which today stretches into the town centre of Lewisham. The
River Quaggy formed much of the boundary between the two parishes, though at Lee Bridge (at the western end of Lee High Road) it is now almost completely hidden. The Lee Manor Society have produced a comprehensive history of the area. The
Domesday Book of 1086 describes Lee as a small area of cultivation set in extensive woodland. The earliest map available (
Rocque's
Country Near Ten Miles Round map of 1746) shows a cluster of about a dozen houses around a triangular village green. This hamlet was then largely surrounded by fields, with the Wricklemarsh estate of
Sir Gregory Page to the north, and a manor house (Lee Place) to the north-west, with St Margaret's Church just beyond. Lee Green Farm occupied the south-east quadrant from the 1660s (roughly on the site of the present Leegate shopping centre). The farm was demolished in the 1840s and rebuilt as Tudor House further east. The Old Tiger's Head and the New Tiger's Head pubs are important and striking features of the crossroads. Confusingly, the original (Old) Tiger's Head is thought to have been built on the site currently occupied by the New Tiger's Head. The original pub is thought to have been built before 1730. It was rebuilt on its present site, the north-west quadrant, in 1750–1770 and then rebuilt (in its third incarnation) in 1896 – the date carried on its frontage. It became an important mail and coaching inn. The New Tiger's Head started life as a beer shop known as the Tiger Tavern in the 1830s. It was situated in the end of four cottages known as Prospect Terrace, built around the same time. Three of these cottages remain, housing a post office/newsagent and a hairdresser. In 1868 it is referred to as the Tiger's Head Inn. The present building is thought to have replaced the original cottage a few years after 1896 – the date of the rebuilding of the Old Tiger's Head. The New Tiger's Head has now closed down.
19th century In 1815 cavalry and foot regiments passed through Lee Green on their way to the
Battle of Waterloo: :"The space in front of the Tiger's Head and the Green were very commodious for the transfer of baggage to the waggons of the farmers from the other side of London to those of the farmers in this neighbourhood which were pressed for that purpose, to convey them 15 miles further on the journey to Dover." ==Notable residents== (orange). The
River Thames is in blue. • Sir
Francis Baring, founder of
Baring Brothers Bank (now defunct), bought the Manor House (attributed to architect
Richard Jupp) in Manor Lane (now a library and its grounds a public park,
Manor House Gardens) in 1796. •
Henry Thomas Buckle, historian and author of the
History of Civilization in England, was born in Lee. • Poet
Ernest Dowson was born in Lee. • Poet
U. A. Fanthorpe was born in Lee. • Actor
James Robertson Justice was born in Lee in 1907. • Actor
Jude Law • Musician
Manfred Mann lived in Southbrook Road in Lee. • Philosopher, sociologist and economic historian
Karl Marx lived at Lee for a short period during the 19th century •
John Mayall lived in Lee Green.
Eric Clapton stayed with him during the recording sessions of the album
Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton • Schoolboy murder victim
Jimmy Mizen • Sir
Gregory Page built a large mansion house (demolished in 1787) at Wricklemarsh in Lee. • Mechanical engineer
John Penn died at his home, The Cedars, Lee on 23 September 1878, and was subsequently buried at nearby St Margaret's Church. •
Reggie Schwarz, South African
cricketer, was born in Lee. • Comedian
Arthur Smith briefly lived in Lee while he attended
Roan Boys' Grammar School • Sir
Denis Thatcher, husband of
Margaret Thatcher, was born in Lee. •
Stanley Unwin, publisher, lived in Handen Road. •
Max Wall, actor and comedian •
Estelle Winwood, English stage and screen actress who later lived in the US; at the time of her death at 101, she was the oldest member in the history of the
Screen Actors Guild. ==Gallery==